


makes her smile

by 21quincys



Category: Adventure Time, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Cussing, Human AU, Smoking, Trans Female Character, Trans Marceline, musician au, okay so the shippy stuff is still way off sorry bout that, title is from brief candles by the zombies btw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-28
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-12-07 22:05:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11632872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/21quincys/pseuds/21quincys
Summary: Lapis Lazuli is down on her luck and eventually starts playing music in the streets to make a bit of money until she can find a full time job. When she meets Marceline Abadeer, a fellow musician, and they make plans to meet up, neither knows it, but a whole new life is set into motion- and not just for them.((Also on wattpad!))





	1. Chapter 1

Marceline didn't typically hear music downtown. Sure, there was the occasional old guy with a guitar on that little public stage or some hipster playing at the coffee shop, but otherwise the little tourist town was empty of any noise- except, of course, that of the crowds pushing by. For tourists, they all seemed to be so rushed! Marceline had lived here for three years and still hadn't absorbed the beauty of the area.

It would've helped, of course, if she were able to focus on just one sound. Walking with her earbuds in could be distracting, but just eavesdropping on random strangers as they walked around wasn't very calming. Marceline just wished someone would start playing music or something where she could hear it.

And then someone did.

About a week into April, she started sitting on a park bench with her acoustic guitar, strumming the strings and hesitantly covering all types of songs, from Fall Out Boy to Taylor Swift. Marceline was pretty sure she was some kind of blessing sent from above, and, every time she passed the girl, she made sure to drop a few dollars in her guitar case. She wished there were some other way to support her (she always looked so tired, and Marceline knew what that was like), but with medical bills and rent, she didn't really have much money left over.

Halfway through June, Marceline was surprised to see the mystery musician still out there, playing her music in the park. She was amazed at the girl's voice. It had grown increasingly confident over all that time she'd spent playing publicly, and she looked so... Honest. She was singing Brief Candles by The Zombies when Marceline decided to approach her and try to talk to her. Almost every time she was downtown (a few times a week) since April, this girl had been out there singing. Did she have a job? Was she safe in a home?

At the end of the song, the girl sighed and leaned down to put her guitar up. Marceline stood, stepping over to the girl. "Hey. 'Sup?"

Wow, great job there. Totally a great introduction.

"Uh... What?" The girl looked up at Marceline, pushing a bit of fading blue hair behind her ear. "Sorry, am I bothering you?" Her speaking voice was strangely deadpan, not at all like her singing voice.

"What? No! It's just... I was wondering why you're out here playing music so often. I mean, it's cool, it's just kind of odd." Marceline laughed awkwardly.

"Oh. I just need to make some extra money until i can find a full time job, it's not a big deal." She had this look in her eyes that said, actually, it sort of was a big deal.

"Well, I was just wondering if you'd like to hang out some time. Maybe do a jam session? I sing too, and I play bass. My name is Marceline, what's yours?"

"I'm Lapis Lazuli. And I think that sounds amazing."


	2. Chapter 2

Lapis checked the text Marceline had sent her with her apartment's address. This should be the right place. The landlord probably didn't allow much customization on the doors, since Marceline didn't seem like the bright yellow door type of person, but she did have a bisexual pride flag taped up, along with what Lapis was pretty sure was the trans pride flag. She'd ask in a few minutes.

She took a deep breath before rapping on the door three times, in quick succession. She was only a bit nervous, but there was always the slight chance Marceline was a serial killer or something. Even with the chances as low as they were... Lapis wished she'd had a cigarette. The building was a no smoking area, but she could've had one outside...

She was snapped out of her internal monologue by Marceline opening the door- although, she still had the chain on it. Lapis couldn't blame her. Actually, she trusted Marceline more for it. "Oh, Lapis! Sup, come in- oh, wait." Marceline closed the door, then opened it again— after a bit of cursing, that is— without the chain, this time. "I forgot about the chain, hah. Turnin' into an old lady or something. Come on, don't just stand out there!"

Lapis stepped inside while Marceline continued to talk, looking around her. The apartment wasn't very large, but it was surprisingly well kept. The walls were a nonoffensive beige, but she had thick, black curtains hanging over the windows. She had a bright red, worn-looking couch, and a matching chair. Her wooden furniture was all stained a dark brown, from the little table her old television sat on to the shelves covered in CDs and old paperbacks. The kitchen was attached to the living room— a completely unremarkable little kitchen, not particularly old or new looking, with dirty dishes sitting in the sink— but there were several doors, probably to a bedroom and a bathroom.

"Nice place." Marceline laughed as Lapis set her guitar case on the ground.

"Nice? It's sort of a dump." Marceline rolled her eyes.

"No, seriously! It's cute."

"Whatever you say, man. Be right back, I'm gonna go grab my bass. You can sit down, you know." Marceline went into one of the rooms blocked off by a door, emerging a few minutes later with a bright red guitar shaped like an axe.

In that time, Lapis had cautiously perched herself on one of the couch's arms with her guitar, now out of the case. She'd noticed a cute little penguin plush on the couch, and a small pile of bills and junk mail on the coffee table. There was no way Marceline was a serial killer, her house could not have been this nice. When she saw her new friend(?)'s guitar, her eyes widened. "Whoa. That is cool."

Marceline grinned. Her teeth were a little crooked, but they were pretty white. She definitely cared about them. "I know, right? My dad got it for me ages ago, kind of as a bribe, and, like, I'm still a total disappointment, but I'm a disappointment with a bombass guitar."

Lapis nodded. "Yeah, I know what that's like. My mom tried to hospitalize me when I was younger so she wouldn't have to deal with me being gay. Ironically, her putting me there is what made me so fucked up." She smiled. It was bitter, but it was honest.

Marceline laughed a bit and held out a fist. "Queer family disappointment club!" Lapis snort-laughed and fist bumped the other girl.

"So, I saw the flags. Bisexual and... Trans, right?" Lapis couldn't help but ask, and Marceline had technically volunteered the information.

"Yep! That's not a problem, is it?" Marceline seemed like she was joking, but Lapis wasn't sure.

"Of course not. You're a cool person. I don't give a shit if you're not cis and straight." Lapis gave a thumbs up and a small smile. She actually felt like she'd bonded with this new girl, even in the short time they'd known each other.

"Hell yeah. So, let's get down to business." Marceline hefted her bass onto her lap. "Who's starting?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> both i and my friend gin ended up shouting lyrics from mulan after that last line, by the way. so, its completely canon that lapis and marcy sung the heck outta that song at some point.


	3. Chapter 3

Bonnibel sighed, putting her key into the knob of her home's front door. Peridot was already home, so neither of them had an excuse not to study for their finals. Work had been unusually taxing today, though, because of a group of rowdy teenage boys that had been harassing her. Flirting excessively, and, when she didn't react, shouting slurs at her. She'd dealt with this before, but not recently. They ended up kicked out of the restaurant, of course.

Peridot was sitting at the kitchen table when Bonnie walked in. A copy of her neat, color-coded notes was spread on the. table in front of her, and her hair was back in a sloppy attempt at a ponytail. Owl City was playing softly from her phone, but she turned it off and looked up at her roommate. "Hey, Bonnibel!" She sat up straighter, looking more energized just from the presence of someone else.

Bonnie laughed. "Hey, Peridot. What's up?" While she talked, she headed towards the fridge, hoping they'd have something caffeinated. Coke, maybe. (She wasn't supposed to touch Peridot's Mountain Dew, but that would've been best.)

"Oh, you know, the usual. I haven't moved from this spot for two hours." Peri didn't look like she was kidding.

"Wow. Do you want a soda?" Bonnie grabbed both a Coke and a Mountain Dew, already knowing her roommate's answer. She was proven right by Peri's enthusiastic nodding.

"How was work?" Bonnie sat down next to Peridot, sighing at the question.

"Bad. Some teenagers started flirting with me, and I asked them to stop, so they called me a, um, slutty, good for nothing, uh..." Bonnie frowned up a bit more, trying not to get emotional. "Several slurs, actually. The N-slur, and a 'lesbo.'"

Peridot patted the other girl's shoulder in an awkward attempt at being comforting. "That sucks. Did they get kicked out?"

"Yeah," Bonnie said, smiling slyly as she continued, "and some other customer cussed them out. She told them where they could go in very impolite terms, and she gave me a fist bump when we had to remove her, too."

"Nice!" Peri grinned and opened her drink, took a long sip, and sighed.

"You're gonna die from caffiene overdose someday." Bonnie opened her own coke and took a much smaller sip, smiling.

"So are you!" Peridot jabbed Bonnie in the shoulder with a ballpoint pen and got a laugh in return.

"Yes, but I'll have government officials and scientists at my funeral. You'll just have a bunch of dudebros and gamers."

Peridot just sat there trying to think of a comeback for a moment. "Yeah, you win this one. Watch out, though!"

Bonnie laughed and took her laptop out of it's case, ready to work on her calculus paper. "Whatever, we need to work. Have you got the notes for Chemistry?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> science roommates! heck yeah! (sorry, but i couldnt resist these nerds being super close. theyre just... adorable.)
> 
> also, it is 100% canon that one of those hours peridot spent sitting there was entirely spent on her phone.


	4. Chapter 4

Peridot threw open the door of the house she and Bonnibel lived in, running off the energy from the two Monsters she drank while she was downtown. "Bonnibel, I just want you to know that I am twice as gay as I was this morning!"

Bonnibel was reading on their big blue couch. She always sat in the corner, so Peridot wasted no time in slinging off her backpack, kicking off her sandals, and climbing over the back of the couch to sit down, rocking back and forth excitedly. Bonnie raised an eyebrow, inserted her bookmark, and sat her paperback down on the coffee table. (The letters on the front were shiny and raised, and Peridot wondered what they felt like.) "Did you get a number or something?"

Peridot answered immediately, pulling out her phone. "No, but I got her Instagram handle! She's named Lapis, and she has the prettiest hair, and she's gonna be a teacher, someday, but right now, she's a musician!" While she talked, Peridot was turning her phone on and going to Lapis's Instagram page. She held it up triumphantly to show Bonnie- It was full of selfies, videos, and a few memes and drawings. There were also a few fliers for performances she planned on doing with her friend- Mary, or something. Peridot didn't know if she cared about Lapis's friends yet. She hoped she would have a reason to care about them soon, though.

"Wow, such a perfect match for you." It took Peridot a second to figure out, but Bonnibel actually had some sarcasm in her voice. She was smiling, though, so it was definitely friendly.

Peridot stuck her tongue out at her roommate and then tried to talk. When she failed to talk around her tongue, she went back to a normal mouth position before protesting, "She doesn't have to be a perfect match for me, but- I mean, I swear, there was chemistry!"

Bonnibel laughs and says, "I'm sure there was, and I think she looks very pleasant."

Satisfied, Peridot curls into an almost-proper sitting position and started scrolling through her Instagram feed. Fandom drama (nothing new), political idiocy (she wished it were new), and gardening tips started feeling a bit boring, so she refreshed the page. At the very top was a new post from Lapis about a performance she would be giving in a bar with her friend. Only, this bar let minors in, which meant Peridot would actually be able to attend!

"Hey, Bonnibel!"

Peridot's roommate looked up from her book again, adjusting her reading glasses. "What is it now?" She didn't actually sound peeved, and smiled a bit when Peridot replied.

"Wanna go to a concert?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alrighty, thats the end of what i have written so far. im actually working on more, dont worry! also, actual plot stuff is coming up! (gee, quincy writing something with an actual plot? i cant believe it!) anyways, i hope for all our sakes that i actually get chapter five finished. till next time! <3

**Author's Note:**

> i dont exactly have an update schedule, sorry about that. ill try to establish an actual schedule once im not so busy, but marching band keeps me pretty pressed for time (and spoons). i hope yall like it so far, though! 
> 
> (also, the wattpad link is https://www.wattpad.com/story/109426952-makes-her-smile if you wanna support me there!)


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